TIP OF THE DAY: Blue & Purple Potatoes

The All Blue variety of blue potatoes. Potatoes can be blue or purple, depending on the soil in which they are grown. Photo courtesy Burpee.com.   Naturally blue and purple foods are relatively rare. Blue Foods. In the blue group are blackberries, blueberries, blue cheese, blue corn, Concord grapes, pale blue oyster mushrooms and edible…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Nogent Knives

If you use your serrated “bread knife” to slice much more than bread, check out the Nogent line of knives, where the other knife styles are microserrated. Photo courtesy Nogent.   Some people use their serrated knives, often called “bread knives,” for slicing bread. Other people have discovered that, beyond bread, a serrated blade cuts…
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April Fool—It Isn’t Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese (Orange Pound Cake Recipe)

We’re cooking up some food fun for tomorrow, April Fool’s Day. This year, it’s trompe-l’oeil food. Trompe-l’oeil (pronounced trump LOY), French for “deceive the eye”, is an art technique that creates the optical illusion that a piece of two-dimensional art exists in three dimensions. You may have seen some amazing sidewalk art that fools you…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Frisée Salad With Lardons (Salade Frisée Aux Lardons)

One of our favorite salad greens, not served often enough in the U.S., is frisée (free-ZAY), curly endive that’s a member of the chicory family. In France, it is formally known as chicorée frisée. (See the different types of endive.) There are many ways to serve a salade frisée, but a universal favorite is frisée…
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The Difference Between Kefir & Buttermilk

“Kefir tastes like buttermilk,” writes a reader. “What’s the difference? Both are cultured beverages—meaning that probiotic bacteria cultures are added to ferment fresh milk. But the “recipes” differ significantly. For starters, kefir may contain a dozen or more different bacterial strains and yeast cultures; buttermilk typically contains only one probiotic strain: lactic acid bacteria. Kefir…
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